Aakash Institute among "best acquisition", WhiteHat Jr a "business mistake," says Byju Raveendran

Dubai [UAE], May 18 (ANI): BYJU'S founder, Byju Raveendran has described the acquisition of Aakash Institute as one of his "best acquisitions" and admitted that acquiring WhiteHat Jr was a "business mistake."
"It's one of our best acquisitions now. At that point in time, that was 5 per cent of the valuation of Think and Learn. And we thought that there is a huge opportunity to what was available only to a few students in big metros, making the same kind of options available to small towns. So we, after the acquisition, actually took Akash (Institute) to small towns. What was reaching out to only a few parts of India? the same programme, we made it available to 300-plus senders within 18 months of taking over. It was actually one of our best acquisitions," Raveendran said in an interview with ANI.
Edtech BYJU's in April 2021 acquired Aakash Educational Services Ltd (AESL) for nearly USD 950 million. The deal was a cash-and-stock deal, and the acquisition was one of the largest in the Indian startup ecosystem. The deal involved a 70 per cent cash component and a 30 per cent equity component.
"Today, all this narrative around acquisitions - like we made mistakes - like when you make six big acquisitions, four of them are doing well but everyone talks about the two, and that's how it works, right?" Raveendran further said.
Talking about the acquisition of WhiteHat Jr, an online coding and coding-related skills platform for children, Raveendran admitted that it was a 'business mistake', although the concept was unique.
"....those are all business mistakes. now I am like today; even though that came through an acquisition, the concept of WhiteHat Jr, what would have really changed is teachers in India teaching students anywhere in the world who wanted to learn math from Indian teachers. Like, that's a huge opportunity lost," he said.
Founder of one of the most valuable edtech companies in the country, with about USD 22 billion valuation in 2022, also acknowledged that the company made "some business mistakes" when it expanded "too fast" to 21 countries due to the 'mandate' from the world-class investors.
Raveendran revealed that the decision, made collectively with board members including investor and founder directors, was not driven by desperation, as the company had raised USD 5 billion earlier.
The Bengaluru-based edtech company is facing financial problems, regulatory issues, and legal battles. Think & Learn Pvt Ltd (TLPL), the Byju's parent company, has been admitted into insolvency proceedings. (ANI)